Seventy Is The New Fifty. What’s The Plan?

By Karen and Erica

We have all been given an amazing gift.  Yes, as you have heard, seventy is the new fifty.

Actually, though it surely is a gift, we think seventy is the new seventy. It’s pretty fabulous, whatever we call it. But functionally it seems the data support the general proposition that seventy is the new fifty.  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released data suggesting that people in their 70s today have the same cognitive and physical abilities as those in their 50s did in 2000. A 70-year-old in 2022 had the same cognitive function as the average 53-year-old in 2000, and their physical health, as measured by grip strength and lung functionality tests, was on par with 56-year-olds from 25 years ago. These findings, based on surveys of one million people aged 50 and older across 41 countries, indicate that older generations could remain active in the workforce much longer than previously thought.

This study concludes that seventy is the new sixty, at least:

A recent study from the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health highlights notable improvements in the overall health of older adults in England compared to previous generations. Instead of focusing solely on the presence or absence of disease, the research—published in Nature Aging—adopted a novel approach to assess trends in individuals’ functional abilities, including cognitive, locomotor, psychological, and sensory capacities.

Drawing on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the findings reveal that today’s older adults demonstrate better physical and mental functioning than their counterparts of earlier generations at the same age.

What are the implications of this rather splendid gift? One may be that because we are healthier for longer, we look forward to remaining alive for even longer than we might reasonably expect to live. That seems like a good development  

Older adults seem to want more years of life than they realistically believe they will get. While people age 50-plus would like to live to a median age of 92 years, their median estimate of how long they will actually live falls shorter, at 85 years.

Those of us who share this desire should consider taking steps to do whatever we can to maintain our health. Aging apparently occurs in waves, in our 40s and 60s, and does not occur according to a predictable progression, the same in every person. Presumably death occurs at different ages as well. A key differentiator: health.

At the biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease and ultimately death. These changes are neither linear nor consistent, and they are only loosely associated with a person’s age in years. The diversity seen in older age is not random. Beyond biological changes, ageing is often associated with other life transitions such as retirement, relocation to more appropriate housing and the death of friends and partners.

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A longer life brings with it opportunities, not only for older people and their families, but also for societies as a whole. Additional years provide the chance to pursue new activities such as further education, a new career or a long-neglected passion. Older people also contribute in many ways to their families and communities. Yet the extent of these opportunities and contributions depends heavily on one factor: health.

Nothing new here, we suppose, and it has been known for a while that those who grew up healthy have an advantage over those who, for whatever reason, did not. But it seems we should all try to be as healthy as possible, even if we start late–and also that we should endeavor to know, accurately, how we are doing. 

The survey, meanwhile, revealed somewhat of a disconnect in older adults’ self-assessed health versus their actual medical history. More than four in 10 (41%) reported their health as being excellent or very good, yet 74% are living with at least one chronic condition and half (53%) have two or more conditions.

There are other implications as well. We need to plan financially for a long life. Maybe we should also try to ensure that our families plan emotionally for our longer lives. (Surely they will be pleased.) Each of us might want to figure out what will make us happy for those years, and if our plans require preparation, start preparing.    

Society needs to have a plan, too. By 2050, 13-14% of the world’s population will be over seventy. We, and everyone else, should share in the desire that this population remain healthy. Barriers to our continued participation in society must be lowered, and attitudes towards older people must change, because sidelining us, especially for decades, will not keep us healthy. Or give society the benefits of the kind of insights only older people can have.

We’re all in this together, but since we are the early beneficiaries of this wonderful gift, we should lead the charge to make a plan for us, and for our world.